


It's Not Always Rainbows and Butterflies

by orphan_account



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Angst I guess, The Last Olympian, character name-drops, percy jackson - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-25
Updated: 2015-10-25
Packaged: 2018-04-28 00:48:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,013
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5071480
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Titan War took its toll on everyone. Friends were lost, love was destroyed, and promises were broken.<br/>Just one story from the Battle of Manhattan.</p>
            </blockquote>





	It's Not Always Rainbows and Butterflies

“Won’t they look for us?” Ella hissed, giggling a little. Ben shook his head, grinning at her.

“They won’t miss us,” he assured her. “Come on.”

They left the sounds of campfire and singing behind and slipped into the forest. The moon cut through the trees in little slivers. Ella wanted to reach for her knife, but felt safe next to Ben.

“Where are we going?” she asked.

“The creek,” was his only reply.

He kept pulling her along before they finally stopped at the shore of the creek. Ella sat down on a boulder, pushing her hair over her shoulders. Ben knelt at the edge of the creek, washing his hands in the cool water. Ella liked the way the moonlight lit up his light blonde hair.

“So what are we doing out here?” she asked. “Aren’t there rules against this kind of thing?”

Ben shrugged, drying his hands on his shirt.

“We haven’t spent time alone together in forever. It’s just been getting ready for war.”

“We’ve been getting ready for war for a good reason, idiot.”

“I miss you.”

Ella laughed.

“I’m right here, silly. I haven’t gone anywhere. I’m not going anywhere any time soon.”

He bent over, putting one hand on the back of her head and grinning, bringing her lips less than an inch away from his.

“Good. I don’t want you going anywhere.”

 

Ella fiddled with her armor as Percy gave out orders. Demeter to the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel. Hermes to the Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges. That was her. Apollo to the Williamsburg Bridge. She reached out and slipped her hand into Ben’s. He gave it a reassuring squeeze.

She could barely breathe. They were about to take on an army. She was terrified. How could they take on an army? Sure, they’d trained and prepared, but without the Ares cabin, what chance did they stand? She was full of doubts.

“We’re going to be fine,” Ben said quietly in her ear. “I promise.”

Ella nodded. They were going to be fine.

When the Hunters showed up, she wanted to cry in relief. The Hunters would be their saving grace. The camp definitely stood a chance with Thalia and her girls on their side.

Percy and Annabeth talked with Thalia for a minute before Percy turned back to the group of campers that had gathered. Ella sensed the fear and worry in his expression, though he did a good job of trying to keep it covered up.

“FOR OLYMPUS!”

Ella turned to Ben, wrapping her arms around him.

“Promise me you’ll come back,” she said. “Promise.”

He chuckled, pressing a kiss to the top of her head.

“I promise. As long as you come back too. Okay, Ells? Just don’t die.”

“I won’t. I promise.”

 

Ella stared at the monster. Its mouth twisted in a sick smile before it pulled the sword from her chest. She fell to her knees, pressing her hands to the wound. She heard one of her cabinmates shout something and the monster exploded into dust over her. She collapsed to the ground, staring up at the sky. Nina was leaning over her, telling her to hold on, that they could try to get a medic.

“Ben,” she whispered to Nina. “I promised him I’d come back.”

“Hey, shh. You’re going to be okay.”

“No,” she said. “No, I promised Ben I’d come back. I can’t… I promised him… Ben…”

The sky was so wide. So blue. Ella felt herself getting lost in it. She began to float…until she was a million miles away.

 

The battle was finally over. Ben pressed a bandage to his arm, grinning exhaustedly. They’d won. It had come at great expense, but they’d won. He looked around for Ella. Where was she? He spotted one of her cabinmates, Nina.

“Nina!” he called, his smile widening. “Nina, where’s Ella?”

Nina looked up at him, her eyes dark and sad.

“Ella?” she said. “You’re looking for Ella?”

“Yeah, where is she?”

Nina hugged herself.

“She’s gone, Ben.”

Ben’s smile slowly faded. He knew what she meant.

“No. Not Ella.”

“I’m so sorry.”

“No!” He stood up, his fingernails digging into his arm. “She isn’t dead! You’re lying!”

“She was fighting a monster and it got her in the chest. Stabbed right through her. I- I killed it, but I couldn’t save her. I’m so sorry, Ben.”

Ben sagged, staring at the girl. She had tears in her eyes.

“Not Ella,” he repeated, his voice sounding small and broken.

Ella was gone. After everything they’d been through, Ella was gone. He curled in on himself, momentarily forgetting his injuries over the pain in his heart. He felt like a part of himself had been ripped away. Ella was gone. She was gone.

“Can- Can I see her?” he choked out. Nina nodded. A warm hand settled on his back. She guided him to where bodies lay, a little ways away. They walked past friends from camp, each familiar face sending a shooting pain through Ben’s body.

Then he saw her.

Like Nina said, she had a sword wound through her chest. Dark red stains discolored her armor. Her eyes were closed, her dark brown hair arranged carefully around her head. She could have been sleeping, if not for the hole in her chest. Ben felt that hole in his own. He sat next to her, taking her hand.

“Ben,” Nina said. “After she was stabbed… She kept saying that she promised you something. She kept saying she promised she’d come back.”

“She did. She promised me she’d come back. She said she wouldn’t die.” Ben almost laughed at the cruel irony of it, pressing his forehead to Ella’s. “She was so worried about me. She looked at me and said, ‘Promise me you’ll come back.’ Damn idiot.”

He gripped her hand, wishing it was warm like it had been once. Wishing that she was still there.

“Dammit, Ella,” he whispered, squeezing his eyes shut. “You promised me you wouldn’t die. Didn’t your mother ever teach you to keep your promises?”


End file.
